Time is Running Out
by xXKittenCraneXx
Summary: Jonathan Crane escapes Arkham to find that he's even more trapped by the Mad Hatter Hatter/Crow
1. Dinner and Complications

Jonathan couldn't believe he was out. All it took was a small pen filled with fear toxin and a lucky chance and he was out of Arkham. He smiled at how good it felt to run and stretch his long limbs. He kept running till he was out of breath and far away from his personally hell hole. He wasn't exactly sure where he was going but from what he remembered it wasn't going to be his picture perfect hideout.

His friend and soon-to-be partner Jervis Tech, who had broken out of Arkham only a couple days ago had given him directions to some house he'd never heard or nor seen. He kept up a fast past towards the place the small scrap of directions told him to go, making sure to stay in the shadows so no one could see him. From what he'd seen so far, the place was defiantly not inside the city limits.

"Hey diddle, diddle." He hummed and ducked as soon as he heard a truck coming up to old road he was on. He waited for a couple seconds as the truck passed and went out of sight. "The cat and the fiddle." He went back to an awkward sprint. "The cow jumped over the moon." He sang louder as he jumped over a small fence in his way. "The little do laughed to see such a sport." He looked down at the paper which confirmed he was almost there. "And the dish ran away with the spoon." He looked up as he fought to keep his other personality from taking over and saw a gothic looking old mansion in front of him.

"Well Tetch got something right for once." He thought as he went up to the door, which looked like it was about to fall off of its hinges any second now. He quickly pushed it open to find the blonde haired hatter sitting on a worn looking couch sipping tea and reading what looked like a worn copy of Alice in wonderland.

"Oh frabjous day I knew you would come. Dinners in the kitchen, my friend." his British accent echoed with delight. He gave him a warm smile like he always did, while Jonathan scowled back.

"Thanks Tetch. The house actually fits my expectations." He reluctantly said as he made his way over to where he thought the kitchen might be. The house didn't look as bad as he thought it would look on the inside.

"You think so?" Jervis sounded like a little child trying to impress his parents.

"Yeah." He muttered as he felt his stomach rumble. It had been forever since he had any real food and the unique pasta dish Jervis had set out for him looked so delicious, that he didn't mind when Jervis followed him in to the supposed kitchen. He quickly sat down on a decaying old chair and reached for a silver fork.

"I will warn you my dear that the food may be cold but I really can't heat it up." He never seemed to loose his smile, even if the man before him didn't seem to care what he said. Before he could realize it Jonathan was inhaling his food. From what he could taste the food was amazing even if it was what Tetch mentioned cold. He stopped when almost the entire dish was gone to look up at the smiling man who had provided all this for him.

"Do you like my cooking Jonathan?" his questions were starting to irritate Crane. He leaned back and put a long hand through his spiky red hair, then decided to answer his partner's question.

"Yeah it's really great. Same with this place." He added to make the other man happy. Jervis closed his baby blue eyes for a brief second as he smiled even wider.

"Why thank you Jonathan. When I first got here it was a mess but with a little hard work I managed to clean up most of it." Tetch paused and Jonathan added a careless "yeah" to keep up the conversation. "But there's only one problem." He paused again and tried to move his long blonde bangs out of his face. Jonathan now noticed that he was not in his hatter costume or blue Arkham uniform, like his, but in tight purple skinny jeans and a normal black tee-shirt that had a weird design all over it. He pulled his green eyes away from the other man and frowned.

"What's the problem then?" he half growled. He had never liked surprises or secrets.

"Well I only cleaned out one of the bed rooms. There is only one bed and it's pretty big so if you wanted to….um share it with me you're welcome to." Jervis's smile only faltered for a second. Jonathan froze and continued to glare at Tetch. "So this is the catch to good food and a great place to stay." He growled internally.

"You could of course sleep on the couch but it's not the most relaxing place in this house-."

"I'll sleep with you." He hissed. Jervis continued to smile at him. Crane was starting to hate that smile. "But if you touch me at all, I'll kill you."

"Alright my dear."


	2. Darling

Jonathan let out a sigh of relief when he saw that the bed he had to share with Tetch was huge and gave him enough room so he didn't have to sleep so close to another man. He quickly walked over to the Victorian looking bed, ignoring all the other objects in the old room. He ran one long and thin hand over the mattress. It felt old and saggy but way better then the stiff mattress he had in Arkham. In one swift motion he took off his blue Arkham uniform, not caring if Jervis was watching or not and laid down. There were little or no blankets. Jervis had been saying something but it was all white noise to him as Jonathan quickly drifted off to sleep.

Jervis let out a long sigh when he finally found out his guest was asleep. He knew that Jonathan had ignored every word he had said but he didn't care. "He'll probably talk to me tomorrow." He half told himself but then stopped as a part of him told him it wasn't true. The mad smile he always wore faded into a thin line. He stalked over to the sleeping man and sat down close enough not to disturb him. Jonathan in his own way was beautiful. His choppy red hair and long nose fit his thin pail body perfectly. Jervis wished that Jonathan would open up his eyes so he could look into the deep almost cold emerald eyes. He wished he could see them, especially when Jonathan was in a good mood. They seemed to change into a unique mixture of blue and olive green. That's what Jervis found himself loving most about his partner.

He found himself biting onto his lower lip and reaching a shaking hand out to touch a strand of Crane's hair. He did believe the Scarecrow when he said he would kill him but he couldn't contain himself. His fingers gingerly touched the top of his head. Crane's hair was soft, defiantly not what he expected. His body stiffened when Jonathan flinched, but he eased up a bit when he continued to sleep.

"Oh Jonathan." He whispered to himself. "You're like the queen of hearts. So stubborn and arrogant. Always wanting your roses to be red and never seeing the beauty of the white." He stopped and ran one delegate hand down the other mans face. He let out a small sigh as the loneliness that he had always felt ever since he was a little boy, filled every cell in his body. His Alice hadn't wanted him, his family hadn't wanted him either. If Jonathan rejected him, he wasn't sure if the thoughts of wonderland or the madness inside could keep him from giving up completely.

"Please don't reject me my darling. Fall down the rabbit hole with me and become my Alice." He couldn't resist any more. He leaned in a placed a quick light kiss on Crane's pink lips. He savored the small dry taste that was left in his mouth as he pulled back. A mad smile returned back to his face. Jervis got up slowly. He felt like he had just got away with murder.

"I saw what you did." Tetch jumped when he heard his partner mutter out. "Fuck I've been caught." He thought to himself. His heart beat faster and faster as he turned around. To his relief Crane was still asleep. He was just saying things in his slumber. He started to calm down a bit and left the room. Tetch breathed out another heavy sigh.

"Oh Jonathan what are you doing to me?"


	3. Shaken

Jonathan's eyes fluttered open when the first rays of light hit his face. He had slept soundly through out the whole night and was reluctant to wake. He turned on his side to face Jervis and block out the bright spring day shinning through the old window with no use. Instead he was met with a small pile of cloths and a lovely hand written note. He stretched out one long arm to snatch it up and read what it said. It took a second for his eyes to adjust but he read the fine handwriting.

_Jonathan,_

_I hope the cloths fit you. If not I'll find you something else._

_Love Jervis_

He glared at the note and set it back down. "Did Tetch even sleep, since it certainly feels like he didn't" He noted to himself but quickly added. "Not that I should care." Crane picked up the cloths and identified them as a black sweater and black flannel pants that looked like they would fit his tall and thin frame. He raised an eyebrow as he found socks and a pair of boxers as well. His harsh green eyes scanned the once creepy room, which for some reason still held its charm, for any sign of a bathroom. They quickly fell onto a door other then the one he entered.

Out of some strange paranoia that Jervis would come in while he was changing Jonathan locked the normal looking bathroom door behind him. He urinated, washed his hands, and face then stripped off his blue Arkham suit and put on the spare change of cloths. When done he quickly examined himself. The cloths had fit his skinny frame so perfectly, it almost frightened him that a mad man knew his exact body type, like he had studied him.

A wave of paranoia past through him. For some odd reason he feared the shorter man not for what he did with his mind control chips but for the potential he could do with the madness he saw in the "innocent" baby blue eyes. "If he touches me," he thought to comfort himself. "I'll kill him without a second thought." He smiled a harsh almost wicked smile at it but in his mind his other personality scarecrow remarked his displease in that but he shook it off and unlocked the door.

It didn't take long for him to get down the long gothic hallway and down the old staircase but the while time he pondered over Jervis's looks. The man was attractive in his own way with shoulder length blonde hair that always got in his face. Beautiful blue eyes that showed innocence and childlike wonder, along with insanity and rage. His face was covered in freckles and his smile was perfect except for a small over bite. Jervis was a head or more shorter then Jonathan and was petite in body type.

All in all, the Mad Hatter was attractive but the fact that he was dangerously insane and Jonathan considered himself straight kept him from ever thinking about the shorter man in any sexual way. He continued to walk to where he remembered as the kitchen until he heard his "friend" calling his name

"Hello Jonathan. Did you sleep well, dear?" he turned around and looked at Jervis who was in the same cloths as last night but was holding a broom.

"Yeah. Did you sleep at all?" he asked with little concern in his voice.

"No actually. I decided to clean out part of a room that I had my eye on for maybe a library." Jonathan zoned out as he felt his stomach rumble.

"Are you hungry?" Jervis asked as he walked over to where Jonathan was standing. He glared at Tetch. Something in his eyes told him Jervis was planning something.

"Yes." He muttered as he took a step back only to find his back was up against a wall.


End file.
